Secrets
by CelestialKeys5622
Summary: What happens when Natsu finds out about Aquarius? How will he get Lucy to tell him what happened? Hopefully their bond isn't destroyed over this secret. One shot.


Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of it's characters. If I did, I probably wouldn't be writing this.

Secrets

"Lucy!" Natsu was startled awake from the dream he had been having. Since Fairy Tail had taken on Zeref and his army, Natsu had found in difficult to go a night without having a nightmare about the man claiming to be his brother. This time Natsu had to watch again as Zeref was torturing Lucy. Apparently the dark mage had been trying to get Natsu to turn into E.N.D., but he had only succeeded in pissing off the dragon slayer to the extreme. Zeref had beaten and emotionally tortured the celestial mage. All to get Natsu to become a monster.

Nobody is allowed to hurt his family, ever. But when it came to Lucy, that was something different. After watching his own brother torture the blonde girl, Natsu came to the slow realization that he had deeper feelings for the celestial mage then family. Now he just had to worry about a way to tell her.

Natsu sat up in the bed and looked across the room at the clock hanging. 3:00 AM. Lucy probably wouldn't appreciate it if he had woke her up at this hour. She knew about the nightmares, but he preferred not waking her up. He turned to look at the blonde sleeping next to him. During the night she had ended up turning around so he could only see her back. Since she seemed to be breathing evenly, he assumed she was asleep. With the mattress creaking lightly, Natsu lifted himself out of her bed. He thought maybe a snack would help him fall back asleep.

When Lucy heard the almost silent sound of Natsu walking to her kitchen, she breathed out and opened her chocolate brown eyes. She had felt him moving around in his sleep and figured he must be having a bad dream. Since they had finished fighting Zeref, the dragon slayer had been having nightmares. But when he had muttered out her name as he woke up, it had startled her. Did his bad dream have something to do with her?

Lucy was worried about Natsu. Ever since he had been forced to fight his brother to the death, the fun loving boy hadn't been the same. She wanted her Natsu back, but knew he needed to time to work through all of the things he had learned. Wait her Natsu? Where had that come from? She didn't think of him like that... Did she? Lucy hadn't even told Natsu about Aquarius yet... so she couldn't be having feelings for him, right?

As Lucy started to drift back to sleep she realized the reason she hadn't told Natsu about Aquarius. She doesn't want to cause him more pain by being concerned over her. The guy already had to watch as his brother tortured and did unspeakable things to Lucy, she did not need to add onto that pain. She slowly let her eyes close and went back to sleep.

Natsu made his way back to Lucy's bedroom. He was just happy Lucy let him and Happy sleep in her bed now. Not that he ever listened before, but it was a lot nicer to not have her yelling at him. He figured she must know he needs someone to be around. As he maneuvered his way to under her bubble gum pink comforter, his hand hit pushed her celestial keys off her nightstand onto the floor.

"Damn," he muttered while reaching to pick up the key ring pouch. The pouch had opened and the keys were sticking halfway out. From where he was at, he could see the key of Leo glowing brightly.

"Jeez Loke, it's not like I did it on purpose," he whispered back to the key. That's when a different key caught his attention. It was one Natsu had often seen Lucy use in battle. He knew the key was precious to her, because he mother had given it to her. He lifted the key of Aquarius closer to his face and saw where the golden key had been severed. His onyx eyes sharply looked at the sleeping form of his best friend. Questions started streaming through his mind. Why wouldn't she tell him about Aquarius' key? Was it an accident? What happened?

Natsu's eyes stayed on the celestial mage for a few seconds longer while he decided what to do. He slipped the keys back into the pouch and sat it gently back onto the night stand. He would decide how to bring it up to Lucy later, but for now he would pretend he hadn't seen the key.

Two Weeks Later

Lucy opened her eyes as she felt the sun on her face. Stretching, she sat up, letting the pink comforted gather at her waist. She rubbed her brown eyes to get the sleep away. She looked to her left, and noticed Natsu had already left for the day. She sighed. Ever since a few weeks ago, Natsu had distanced himself from the blonde. She wasn't really sure why, but she couldn't help but feel she had done something wrong.

The blonde dragged herself out of bed and towards her bathroom. Grabbing a set of clothes out of her drawers on her way, she made her way to the shower. After a long shower, Lucy got out and pulled on her outfit for the day. Since it had started to get colder, she had gone for a pair of skinny jeans, a pink sweater and her pair of black army boots (with fluffy socks underneath). Once her blonde hair was brushed out she grabbed her belt and celestial keys.

As per Lucy's usual morning routine, she took Aquarius key out of the pouch and held it for a minute. "Don't worry Aquarius, I will make you proud," she stated while putting the key back and looping the belt around her waist. On the way out the door, Lucy grabbed her black coat and pink hat. Locking the door behind her, she started the lonely walk to the guild.

Natsu sat at one of the long tables in the guild hall. He was faced towards the door with a look of extreme concentration, almost like he was waiting for something to happen. Everyone else in the guild hall had been avoiding the dragon slayer after he had nearly bitten Gray's head off for trying to get him to fight. They watched wearily from around him as he tapped his fingers on the wood table. Even Happy was not sure what was wrong with him, so he sat next to Carla and watched his best friend.

Natsu jumped every time someone came through the doors. He had decided today would be the day he would ask Lucy about Aquarius. He had come up with the perfect plan too, he just needed her to come through the doors. Knowing that he had become somewhat distanced from Lucy hurt him. Since he had found out about Aquarius, he had been unsure of what to say to her, so he had started to avoid her. Natsu was over that now, he couldn't keep waiting for her to come to him.

The doors to the guild hall opened and a familiar blonde haired celestial mage stepped through. Guild members watched as Natsu jumped up and started walking towards Lucy. Her own brown eyes were wide in surprise.

"Hey, Luce. I was wondering if I could get your help with something," Natsu asked as he came to stand in front of her.

"Um... sure. What was it?" she nervously rubbed her hands together in front of her.

"Follow me," he retorted while walking past her and out the doors. Lucy spared a glance over her shoulder towards her guild mates, who looked just as surprised as she felt, before she followed Natsu outside.

Lucy tried to keep up with Natsu but he was walking too for her. She kept up a jogging pace behind him. He did not say a word to her. Finally they made it to the lake Natsu and Happy always fish at. Lucy looked around confusedly while Natsu looked down at the water.

A few minutes passed before Lucy couldn't be quiet anymore, "Natsu? What did you need help with?"

The salmon haired boy turned towards her with a very small smile on his face. "Well I was wondering if I could practice against Aquarius for a little bit. You see, she is your strongest spirit and I have never really fought against a being of water. I thought it would be a good training exercise, for both of us." He watched as a look of panic crossed Lucy's face for a split second before a smile was forced in its place.

"Well Aquarius doesn't really like that... I could use her star dress to fight you though?" she offered in a slightly tight voice.

"I want to practice against Aquarius, Lucy."

"But..." Lucy tried to think quickly, "I can't summon her today. She has a date with Scorpio." Whew. He couldn't deny that one.

"Awe, that's too bad," Natsu turned his eyes back to the lake. Why wouldn't she just tell him the truth? A sudden idea popped into his head, "Will you promise to let me practice with her soon?" The look of panic and sadness made its way back into her eyes. She never broke promises.

"I...uh... I don't know if I can promise that Natsu," Lucy felt the tears start to well up. She did not want this to be the way Natsu found out. She didn't want to cause him more pain.

"Why Luce?" Natsu's voice had softened. Lucy was trying so hard to not cry now.

"I... just... can't..." Lucy looked away from him a gulped. She saw his eyes harden. He stepped forward and grabbed her shoulders in a firm grip, but it didn't hurt her at all.

"Lucy, tell me," he demanded. When she refused to look at him, he shook her gently.

"Dammit Lucy. Just tell me. Why are you so upset?" Lucy felt the tears start to roll onto her cheeks.

"She's gone! Okay? Is that what you wanted to hear?!" Lucy started sobbing, sinking to the ground. "She's gone... and she's never coming back..." Her hands moved up to cover her eyes.

Natsu lowered himself onto his knees and reached his own hands out to remove hers. "What happened?"

Lucy hiccupped slightly and looked over Natsu's shoulder, "During Tartaraus, all you guys had been immobilized. I was fighting off Jakal and the others. I had already opened three gates: Virgo, Loke and Aquarius."

Natsu's eyes widened slightly at that, since when was Lucy able to summon three spirits at once? But he didn't say anything, he just waited for her to continue.

"I was losing. They were just too strong for me. Aquarius said I needed to open the gate of the Celestial King. To do that, she explained I had to break one of the golden keys." Lucy took a shaky breath in, still refusing to look Natsu in the eye. "Aquarius said to break her key. I did," tears started to roll down her cheeks again. "Once the Celestial King was here, we were able to save you guys.

"Now, I use star dress more often. I have to be able to depend on myself. I never want to have to break a key again!" the tears were started to stream down her cheeks harder. Natsu released his hold on her hands and moved one hand to wipe her tears and turn her face to look at him.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked, "I could have helped you." Lucy looked at him incredulously.

"You left! Remember?! I know it was because you needed to, but I was left alone! I know you thought I would be ok with the rest of the guild, but then they all left too! I was alone..." Lucy trailed off. Natsu had never thought this could be what the celestial mage had been having to deal with in the year he was gone. He could feel the guilt rise in him.

"But I know you were only doing what you had to. You wanted to protect all of us. That's why I never told you, I didn't want you to feel guilty or bad for me," Lucy explained as she watched his face.

Natsu ran a hand through his hair, "I'm still sorry, Lucy. You deserved to have someone be there. You shouldn't have had to handle this all alone. I had Happy after Igneel died. Then after Zeref, I had you. You deserve to have people worry about you too." His onyx eyes burned into her brown ones as he talked.

"I promise to always be there for you Lucy. You need to know you can always tell me things though. Promise you won't keep secrets from me anymore?"

"I promise."


End file.
